Immigrants are rarely popular, but they become Britain

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In 1970, W. G. Sebald was appointed to a lectureship in modern German
literature at the University of East Anglia. He would remain there for the
rest of his academic career. Before his untimely death in 2001, Michael
Ondaatje called him “the most interesting and ambitious writer working in
Britain today”. He was born in Bavaria, but his books — The
Emigrants, The Rings of Saturn, Vertigo — transformed the
landscape of literature in this country. And yet, speaking of Norwich, he
said: “I’ve lived here for 30 years, but I don’t feel in the least at home.”